Made
by Koiame
Summary: Duo and Relena visit Heero in the hospital after the ending of Endless Waltz. 1 plus 2.


**Koiame**: Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted on . Most of my new works can be found on AO3 as they are for more mature audiences. Happily, I can post this one here as well as it is much more mild, but no less enjoyable I hope, than the others. I will one day return to my Harry Potter fics. I do apologize to my readers, but I'm one of those temperamental artists you read so much about. I need to be in the mood to write certain things for different fandoms. Right now, I'm all about Gundam Wing again. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this and thank you for reading!

**Warnings**: Some bad language, hints at shonen-ai (boys' love), no Relena bashing, sap, drama, and author's attempts at humor.

**Archive**: Archive of Our Own (AO3). If you would like to re-post somewhere, please send me a message to let me know where. Thanks!

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><p><strong>Made<strong>

"Hey Relena!" Duo pops into the private hospital room with a bright smile. The door clicking gently behind him is barely noticed amidst the quiet din of medical equipment beeps, sighs, and ticks. Fresh pink scars and bruises stand in contrast to the black priest's outfit that surely hides more. He'd gotten off lucky, the braided pilot knows, even if his cracked ribs bitch constantly. "How's our favorite kamikaze pilot?"

"Oh. Good afternoon, Duo." She glances up from paperwork strewn over a large wheeled tray table; a whole mess of legalese on every page. It's hard for her to visit, especially in the wake of the Mariemaia incident, but she manages to spend at least an hour every day with Heero. "They removed the breathing tube this morning."

"I heard. Thought I'd come by when Trowa mentioned it. Man… Am I the only one who thinks it's nuts that Heero's healed this much in only a few weeks?" Duo's eyes flicker over him. A long finger tucks a stray lock of hair behind an ear as a wide smirk pulls at his lips. "But I guess that's just Heero for ya. He'll be out saving the world again in no time."

"Hopefully, that will not be necessary." Her tone is playful, but underneath it lays a faint shadow of concern. The peace is too new for comfort. Even with the pilots' attempts to avoid bloodshed, their old hope for an end to violence was spoiled. "Heero… no, all of you sacrificed so much to bring an end to such unnecessary conflicts. I will do everything in my power to help rebuild a world that is worthy of all that has been lost."

Duo sighs tremendously, not once letting the affectation of cheerfulness falter, and makes his way over to peer down at the dark-haired savior of the world. He pokes and prods the helpless soldier's cheek with his index finger, a liberal dose of mischief sparking to life in his eyes.

"So, what's on the schedule for today? Forcing cranky politicians into group hugs? Saving kittens up trees? Tro' could _so_ help you with that last one." He teased. "Just no kidnappings… There's gotta be some thirty day return policy against it."

"None of the above, Duo." Relena rolls her eyes as a small smile plays at the corners of her painted mouth. "Although, I am flying to Hong Kong in a couple of hours to renegotiate trade agreements between the colonies. Then there is a luncheon with-" She raises an eyebrow at the braided boy's antics. "Should you really be doing that? What if Heero wakes up?"

Duo shrugs and ponders the pushed up piggy-nose he's inflicting on his best friend. With a deep breath, he sighs an end to pestering him; a subtle scowl left on the poor victim's face.

"What's the plan for when he wakes up?" His gaze is fixed upon Heero's closed expression. "As much as he _loves_ hospitals, I doubt he'll wanna stick around for long."

"Quatre has offered his Aunt's summer home for Heero's recovery. Or," she hesitates, "he can stay at the Weridge estate north of Brussels."

With Relena.

"Two blonds fighting over who gets to take care of him…" He shifts weight from one foot to the other. "Heero's a lucky bastard."

She flushes.

A soft rapping noise cuts the conversation off before it has the chance to become even more awkward. Noin opens the door and offers a slight, respectful bow. She is wearing a black pants suit; the firearm secured in a shoulder strap underneath her jacket well hidden to the untrained eye.

"We should leave now, Miss Relena. There's a lot of traffic this time of day."

"Thank you, Miss Noin." She nods and collects the documents into a neat stack that is then carefully stowed in an oversized handbag. Longingly, Relena tarries a moment to consider her knight in shining armor. "Please look after him while I'm away, Duo. I'm… I'm afraid he'll just disappear one day if we let him."

He snorts. "I'll try, princess. But he can be pretty thick-headed. Lucky thing, too, with all the self-destructing he does."

"Miss Relena…"

The blond bids a rushed farewell to Duo before following the ex-OZ soldier out. The room is quiet now except for the calm blips of monitors and rattling of cold wind against bolted windows.

"You can stop pretending now. I know you're awake." He collapses in the newly vacated chair and kicks his legs up on the table.

His words hang in the air without response.

"C'mon… Hey! Ya don't believe me? Fine… I got nothing to do for the next few hours. Remember when we got stuck with Wufei on the moon that time and I talked for hours straight 'cause I was nervous and you were too injured too complain, but not enough to lose consciousness?"

Heero makes no indication of being awake. Either he really is still asleep or the threats aren't working. Time to step it up a notch…

"Still nothing, huh? Oh, well. Maybe I should call Relena back." Duo casually gestures to the door. "Or Quatre. He'd drop everything and be here in a heartbeat."

That gets him. The wounded sixteen-year-old slides his eyes open and glowers at his friend. Threatening to inflict the blonds on him is a low blow, even for Duo, he scowls.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, buddy." He chirps. "Glad you made it."

"Status?"

"Nothing unexpected. You fractured a few bones, including your skull. The doctors stopped the internal bleeding from a tear in your stomach; a bit of shrapnel did that. It'll make a wicked scar! I forget which, but you dislocated an arm. There's burns on your legs, ruptured eardrums, and a whole lot of bruises to top it all off. All in all, at least it's not as bad as the last time when you were in your Gundam when it went 'boom'."

"The enemy - the girl, Mariemaia - has been eliminated?" Violent images cloud Heero's vision. He fears the answer. The memories are unclear; infiltrating the underground bunker, looking into the child's eyes, pulling the trigger.

"Yeah, we won; kicked ass and took names." Duo assures him. "The little redhead megalomaniac's gonna be alright. Believe it or not, Lady Une's taking care of her. Don't get why you'd let one homicidal maniac raise another, but what do I know?" He throws his arms up. "At least all the good guys are accounted for now - even that self-righteous asshole, Wufei."

"Hn."

Heero tries and fails to sit up a few times. The monitors speed up their regular reports on his condition. Frustration takes hold of him and he yields, turning to his braided friend instead.

"Your status?"

"Huh?"

"Help me escape."

"Oh no… no way!" Duo lets his feet drop heavily on the linoleum floor. "Even if you weren't more than half dead and in need of every machine they've got you hooked up to, there's no way I'd haul your ass out of here. If you haven't noticed, I'm a little banged up, too. And that gut shot you gave me… what the hell were you thinking, Heero?! I've got four cracked ribs, ya jerk!"

"We needed a decoy." He shrugs. "I thought you were tougher than that."

"Yeah, well… I guess G was better at picking out pilots than punching bags."

"Hn."

They exchange death glares; willing the other to back down.

"Ya know what, Heero?" He stands up. "See this obnoxious salmon colored curtain? Even though it's ugly, somebody made it. And that bed pan over there… nobody wants to have to need one, but it's pretty damn useful when you do!"

"Duo? Are you the ugly curtain and bedpan?"

"No! Yes… I mean…"

The bedridden pilot laughs in earnest, further aggravating his flustered companion.

"Screw you, Heero Yuy! Somebody made me, and someone made you. I'm not talkin' about parents or nothing; everyone made us who we are. If you wanna live and be valuable as something other than a soldier, you're going to need people to help remake you."

He turns to stalk out, but Heero catches his wrist, keeping him there. Duo tugs at the hold, but to no avail. His anger is still potently radiating from his rigid stance and tensed muscles.

"Let go!"

"Is that how you define friendship?" The perfect soldier implores with an innocent curiosity so rarely seen. "Duo… what have we made each other?"

Those words, delivered with that expression, feel like another punch to the gut. The orphan from L2 can do nothing but stand there blankly in shock. Slowly, thoughts return over the dull thrumming of heartbeats in his ears.

"I-I don't know." Sensing the answer was nowhere near enough by the disappointed look on Heero's face, he hurriedly continued. "We've made each other, sure. I mean, even if I've been nothing but trouble to you - your words, not mine - I'd like to think you've had some fun around me. Maybe I've made you lighten up some? Still working on that suicidal need to save the world at the cost of your own life 'cause you're too stubborn to let me help see things through…"

Heero nods. "How have I made you?"

"Uh…"

"Duo?"

"You've…" Focusing his attention on the snow covered world beyond the window, he stalls for time and a way out of this too personal conversation. His mind scoffs; where's a lieutenant Noin when _I_ need one? "I guess…" His mask slips; agony worse than any physical injury clearly visible in his violet-blue eyes and tightly clenched jaw. "For the first time - in a very long time - you made me think of something other than revenge."

Heero slips his hand down into Duo's and firmly clenches it. "Understood."

Their eyes meet.

"Thank you." Heero smiles softly.

"I…" The normally effusive pilot chokes. "Uh… D-Don't mention it. That's, uh… What friends are for?" Aware that there's not enough oxygen getting to his bloodstream anymore, Duo wonders how it is that his subconscious normally regulates the intake and expulsion of air for him. He tries to match Heero's calm breathing, but that only makes it worse. His hand is still a captive of the other, and feels much too warm and sweaty.

"Duo," Prussian blues analyze the braided teen with concern, "are you in pain?"

"What? Oh," he wrests his sweaty palm away, "it's not that bad." Carelessly patting his ribs causes him to noticeably wince.

"I'm… sorry."

"I, you've never, I mean, not that I'm not grateful… but really, it's alright. The whole world being at stake thing kinda makes it uh, not okay, but I can understand why and all. I know it wasn't personal or anything. Just business. Heh. That's uh… a movie reference… I could, er we could watch it sometime… make a movie night with the other guys when you feel better. And hell, even Zechs and Noin could come. But maybe not the crazy redhead and mommy dearest… unless you really, really wanna..."

"Duo."

"And you could invite Relena. She'd be happy for the invite at least, even if she's too busy."

"You're rambling."

"Ah, yeah… guess I am."

"Why?"

Duo's life is suddenly all about the loose threads on his sleeve.

"Couldn't tell ya." He shrugs. "Just promise me you won't disappear again."

A nurse walks in pushing a cart with everything necessary for a gentle sponge bath.

"Excuse me. I wasn't aware Mr. Yuy had another visitor. I could come back later?" The middle-aged blond lady asks.

Duo eyes her and the washing supplies. "Why's it always the blonds?"

He turns back to Heero and finds him 'asleep'.

"Oh _sure_… Play possum. Maybe I'll _stay_ for the sponge bath." He smirks at the slight twitch he elicits from Heero's eyebrow.

"Mister… uh…"

"Maxwell. But you can call me Duo." He turns around. "And don't worry about me; I was just leaving - got a shuttle to L2 to catch. Gonna help Hilde with her salvage yard. Quat has all my contact information, so if the idiot behind me ever does decide to 'wake up' and join the rest of us, then he can call or visit anytime."

To her credit, the nurse refrains from staring at Duo like he's an escaped mental patient and nods at his instructions.

"See ya around, Heero." With his braid trailing after him, he takes off.

Shaking her head, the nurse returns to her duties. As she gently peels down the top of the young soldier's hospital gown, the blond woman thinks aloud of the strange boy with violet eyes.

"You have a very interesting friend, Mr. Yuy." She dips the sponge into a basin of soapy water. "I remember the first time I saw him visit you. He was quite bandaged up and your other friends half-carried him down the hall." The nurse starts on his chest using small circular motions above the large bandaged area of his stomach. "If not for Ms. Peacecraft by your side every day, with how often Mr. Maxwell visited I would have thought there was something more between you."

"Explain."

The nurse screams and knocks the bucket of water all over the both of them.

"Y-You're awake!"

"Yes."

"That's wonderful! I should go fetch the doctor. She'll want to know-"

"Not now." Heero growls. "Explain first."

"What?"

"Maxwell. What did you mean by 'something more'?"

"I… I don't know." Her eyebrows are tightly scrunched together and she is nervously eyeing the door. "Just… that you might be something more than just friends."

"Like what?"

"Oh, um…" The nurse's knees almost buckle at the intensity of her patient's hard gaze. "He's obviously… your best friend."

"Best friend?"

"…yes."

"Hn."

"I'll go get the doctor now." She makes a run for it, leaving Heero sopping wet and deep in thought.


End file.
